Category: Flight School

Lazy Pilot is a Good Pilot

Lazy Pilot

When I first attempted driving, I was surprised how difficult it was to maintain speed. It was my grandmother who finally imparted her wisdom. “Ease up on the accelerator before you get to the speed you want.” She said, probably…

Seat of Your Pants

Seat of Your Pants

I am what you would call a seat of the pants pilot. What does that mean? It means that you feel, more than you see what the aircraft is doing. This phenomenon can translate to any type of vehicle, such…

Big Ass Elk

Elk standing in water.

In the post, 50 Feet, 90 Knots, I suggest that my relationship with my instructor was a good one. We spoke the same language, both smoked, and he appreciated my flying skills along with my deep respect for safety. He…

Hovering II

Hovering UH-H1

In a couple of other stories about flight school, I brag about how I could hover a TH-55 so well, that you would think it was sitting on a pedestal. I loved hovering, and took great pride in keeping the…

Fifty Feet, 90 Knots!

UH-1 above the trees

One of the best parts of flying an Army helicopter was that almost all flying was done fifty feet above the highest obstacle.  For the vast majority of my flying in Ft. Rucker, Alabama, I was cruising at 90 knots,…

Out of Ground Effect

Hovering in the trees

I don’t remember exactly when I fell in love with the prospect of flying.  I didn’t know any pilots growing up.  My first stepfather worked for the now long defunct airline Braniff, and because of that, there was some trips…

Hovering

TH-55 Osage

The greatest part about flying a helicopter is hovering. Okay, maybe flying NoE (Nap of Earth), but you can’t really do that in a civilian aircraft. We also didn’t do that kind of flying until we got into advance tactics…

First Flight Part Duo

Huey head on

I left introductory flight feeling like I could fly the wheels of off anything.  Kind of funny when you consider that to this point, I have not flown anything with wheels.  There was so much rivalry at this stage already. …

Turning a Rotor

That was what the first eight weeks of flight school was all about. Turning a rotor. Six weeks of Warrant Officer Entry Course, also known as A Company. Then we moved to B Company, and spent two weeks being the…

First Flight

Horrible Flight!

Myself, and a fellow helicopter pilot want to be, was sitting in a little restaurant outside the Daleville gates of Ft. Rucker, AL. I would bet I wasn’t a resident of that Fort more than three days at this point.…